Baseball and softball drop twinbills

The Pratt Community College baseball and softball teams are having trouble finding any consistency in a spring where it seems more games have been postponed/rescheduled than played.

Comment

PrattTribune - Pratt, KS

Writer

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 2:02 PM
Updated Mar 8, 2013 at 2:05 PM

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 2:02 PM
Updated Mar 8, 2013 at 2:05 PM

Ark City, Great Bend

The Pratt Community College baseball and softball teams are having trouble finding any consistency in a spring where it seems more games have been postponed/rescheduled than played.

At Cowley County on Thursday, Beaver softball fell 11-4 and 7-0. In the opener, Brenda Novelo had a busy day at the plate, collecting two extra-base hits. She doubled in the second inning and homered in the fifth.

Raushell Baca was in the circle for PCC. Baca pitched six innings and allowed four earned runs, eight hits and three walks while striking out two.

After pushing across one run in the top of the third, Beavers faced just a 3-1 deficit. An RBI single by Sam Garrison gave Beavers life.

Three runs in the top of the fifth helped the Beavers close their deficit to 5-4. An RBI double by Garrison and a two-run home run by Novelo triggered the Beavers' comeback. The Tigers outscored Pratt 6-0 down the stretch, however, to take the game 11-4.

In the nightcap, Kelsie Lundgren reached base twice in the game for the Beavers—singling in the third inning. Other than that, the Beaver offense was quiet as Cowley prevailed 7-0.

Ely Ortega toed the rubber for the Beavers, allowing five earned runs, 11 hits and one walk while striking out none over six innings of work.

At 5-11 (0-2), the Lady Beavers will play Hutch Friday at Hesston in a rescheduled match. The contest was to have been played at Angood Field but continued wet field conditions prompted the move to a neutral site.

The Beavers baseball team was finally back in action Thursday taking on the Barton County Cougars to tip off their conference season. The Beavers fell short in both games, losing the first game 13-12 (seven innings) in heartbreaking fashion, and losing game two by a score of 10-7 (nine innings).

Game one was a wild one as the Beavers found themselves in a deep hole early, down 9-1 at the break of the second inning. As has been standard all season, the Beavers did not give up when the game looked out of hand early. They chipped away picking up 1 run in the bottom of the 2nd , 4 runs in the 3rd and another pair in the 4th to trail just 9-8.

Freshman righties Cameron Clements and Creighton Hoover combined to keep the Cougar offense at bay for four innings, giving PCC the chance they needed to get back into the game.

A 3-run dinger by Tanner Johnson and an RBI knock by Gaige Webster gave PCC a 12-9 lead going into the top of the 7th. (PCC was home team despite the game being played at Barton due to a wet field at Stanion.)

Page 2 of 2 - Defensive lapses were in large part responsible for allowing the Cougars to regain a 13-12 lead. In the bottom of 7, Pratt squandered a bases loaded, no out situation—and found themselves on the short end of a heartbreaking 13-12 decision.

In game two the Beavers tried to rally late, but could never get the lead, falling 10-7.

This brings PCC’s overall record to 2-5 and their conference record to 0-2. The Beavers are back in action this weekend at Dodge City to play doubleheaders Fri. (4 p.m) and Sat. (12 p.m.)